It starts out with a quote by George Bernard Shaw, "Marriage is an institution that brings together two people under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions. They are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part" He wrote this quote at the beginning of the 20th century, and the article states that people would laugh at this quote. However, I wish and pray that people would strive to stay in the state of loving each other passionately and unconditionally when they are married. Yes, you will face trials and tribulation...but as I am going to explain, we should be so very thankful for the culture we are growing up in.
"For most of history it was inconceivable that people would choose their mates on the basis of something as fragile and irrational as love and THEN focus all their sexual, intimate, and altruistic desires on the resulting marriage." As crazy as this seems, this statement is very true for that time in history. In all different types of cultures and religious beliefs, it was believed that this above quote was switched. That you should not wait to give the gift of oneness until marriage, and that the physical and ability to provide came first. Not a lot of people valued their spouse, (and in a lot of cases their spouses).
For instance "In some cultures and times, true love was actually thought to be incompatible with marriage." "Plato believed love was a wonderful emotion that led men to live honorably" "Other societies considered it good if love came after marriage" (referring to the quote in the above paragraph)
In ancient India falling in love was considered an antisocial act and no one approved of it. Women were not aloud to choose their own husband or wife. "The Greeks thought lovesickness was a type of insanity"
"In China, excessive love between husband and wife was seen as a threat to the solidarity of the extended family. Parents could force a son to divorce his wife if her behavior or work habits didn't please them, whether or not he loved her. They could also require him to take a concubine if his wide did not produce a son. If a son's romantic attachment to his wife rivaled his parents' they could have her sent back." As you can see, china's view of love was strictly connected to economics, and honor to their family.
"In Europe, during the twelfth & thirteenth centuries, adultery became idealized as the highest form of love among the aristocracy." WHAT? this is absolutely crazy to me and really hard for me to wrap my mind around, however this was the way of their culture. In France, Andreas Capellanus wrote a principle of his love to his wife saying, "marriage is no real excuse for not loving" He was talking about other women. It was said in eighteenth century, "any man who was in love with his wife was a man so dull that no one else could love him.
Greek and Roman men were not aloud to show affection to their wives in public. They were encouraged to show love to many women. It was considered a disgrace to kiss their own wives.
Eskimos had another way of living all in it's own. They lived with comarriages, meaning that they would each have a spouse, however they all lived together and would "share" their spouses with one another. This was seen as an honor to them. They even quoted that "without co-wives, a woman's work is never done"
So as you can see, just in a brief description, many different cultures are different and don't necessarily agree with how we love and marry in Modern America. I know that in 2012 the divorce rates have gone up and that the percentages are equal for believers and non-believers. We need to start to be thankful for the way that marriage is portrayed here in the U.S. We are so blessed to be able to fall in love, and marry the man/woman that we choose. Be thankful that the Lord knows what is best for you and that you can receive the best from Him. Be thankful for your freedom as an American and don't abuse it. Marriage is a gift, be thankful you get to choose your future spouse, and love them well. Love them as Christ loved the Church. Treasure them. Love is an incredible gift!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
